Reunion in the Underworld
by NekoNeko Kawaii02
Summary: The seven demigods of the 2nd Great Prophecy take a trip to the Underworld, and Annabeth has an unexpected reunion with someone from her childhood. 2 OC! Please review! :3
1. Chapter 1

**HI! So i'm just saying, this story is made out of pure fiction, and no exact location or date during their quest. i just wanted to bust this story out there. Also, please review on how i wrote it. i wanted to copy Riordan's way of writing, so please tell me about my progress. Enjoy! :3**

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><p><strong>Percy stood at the Argo II's<strong> balcony, staring unsurely at the demigod in front of him.

"Nico… no, there has to be another way! I'm not going in there again." He told the child of Hades. Seriously, between going down fighting monsters, even if there were hundreds, no, _thousands_ of them, and going straight into the place they were gonna go to if anyways they failed, it was obviously no contest.

Nico stood up straighter. He'd grown over the past two years. Monsters who would take a look at him would no doubt go crying for their mommies. There was just this aura (no, not the wind spirit or whatchamacallit) that seemed to hang around him that clearly sent one simple message: Danger.

"Percy," he said, looking the older demigod in the eyes, "you know it's the only way. Unless, I don't know, you wanna go there fighting hundreds of monsters thirsty for your blood. We have to do it!"

Percy swallowed. He wasn't sure. A few years ago, the kid had led him down there, saying the lines he was saying now, 'we have to do it! it's the only way!', only so that the Lord of Death (or underground? Or riches?) would put him in a stone cave for fifty to sixty years. Now Nico was doing it again. Trying to lead him into the Underworld, trying to help. Percy wasn't too excited about it.

"Percy," Nico said, as if reading his thoughts, "I promise it's not a trap. I'm not tricking you. Plus, why would I? I've already proved myself to my… father." He said 'father' like how you would say monster. Like he really still couldn't believe the Lord of the Dead was his dad. Not exactly the dad you would invite for parents-teachers' conference.

"I'm not saying yes, but… we should consult the others." Percy decided. Nico nodded, as if in satisfaction, and said, "Yes, that would be fine. Good night, Percy." And he disappeared back into the Argo II, presumably back to his room.

Percy knit his eyebrows together, thinking. A week ago, Nico had offered a solution to their problem. They were supposed to go face Gaea, but in their way, was a sea full of, I don't know, bloodthirsty monsters all awake and waiting eagerly for their yummy demigod suppers. It was dangerous, even too dangerous for the sons of Jupiter, Hades, and Poseidon. Nico had told him in private, saying there was another way to get past that place w/out having to face all those monsters.

He sighed, and trudged back into his own room, eager to resign for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Jason sat at the Argo II's** dining hall, staring unsurely at the demigods in front of him.

"There has to be another way. Don't you think it's a huge risk, considering we don't even know if she'll help us?" he said, addressing no one in particular.

"It's a risk we should be willing to take!" Nico, the Death Kid (as Leo had called him) argued. He seemed almost anxious to get them down in there. Not very reassuring.

"It's a risk that we're either too stupid, or too brave, to take." Annabeth said grimly, as if she had already made a decision and she knew she would fast regret it. Jason looked at the others. Surely, they had a say in this.

"I don't know, man. I mean, go down in the Land of the Dead to have a nice afternoon chat with the goddess of whatnot, or cross the sea full of monsters, it's not a very easy decision, so the very generous Leo's gon' step off the throne and hand it all to the star of the show, Lightning Boy." Leo piped up, then went back to eating his taco.

_Thank you, Leo_, Jason thought, _Very helpful. _They couldn't just waltz down there and expect the goddess of whatever help them. How were they sure that they could go down there without being blasted to a million pieces, anyway?

"Percy," Jason started, "how exactly are you sure that we can go down there,"

"And get up again." Leo added, with a mouthful of tacos.

"safely," Jason continued, "and get help from a goddess no one has ever heard of?"

Percy took a few seconds to reply. Jason almost imagined a 'buffering' circle on the top of his head, like in the internet.

"I'm _not _sure. That's why I'm asking_ you _guys to help decide. Unfortunately, you guys aren't doing so well on the helping part." Percy said, giving Jason an accusatory glance.

Jason threw his hands up, like in surrender. "The point is, how are we sure this is even gonna _work_?"

Annabeth, who had been unusually quiet, chimed in, "How can we trust this goddess? As I know, goddesses who are either unknown or don't have any demigod kids, are bitter toads."

It was true. A few years ago, Hera, the Queen of the Gods (who didn't have any mortal children), had sent her some intestinally troubled cows to her, just because she didn't like her. And also her statue in Mt. Olympus had fallen on her Hunter friend Thalia, pinning her down in the middle of an awesome time to fight. Annabeth really didn't have a choice but to distrust certain goddesses, especially one she hadn't heard of.

"If this _goddess _of yours really is a real goddess, then why haven't I read about her? I should've heard about her legends, somehow." She said, looking at Nico.

_The poor kid_, Jason thought, _he's only trying to help_.

"Hey, let's hear him out, before deciding." He said, shooting Piper a quick glance, like, _Help._


	3. Chapter 3

**Piper took a deep breath.** Jason needed her, she couldn't sit around as the other six demigods debated about poor Nico's plan.

"What if she locks us up in a dungeon?" Frank asked, worried.

"She won't! Can't we trust my brother for even once!?" Hazel yelled protectively.

"How are we sure this is even gonna work? There has to be an alternative!" Argued Annabeth, ever the strategist.

"She _will_ help us! I know it. I've asked many times for her guidance!" Nico shot back.

"Yeah, guidance. Like, 'hey what up, goddess girl! Can I please get a Greek Trireme across the Pacific or whatever without paying a price? Oh, yes? You will? Thanks! Now we're gonna go dancing into the sunset, happy cuz we managed to get help from you without paying! Bye!' _Really_, Nico?" Leo interjected.

"She _will_ help, because maybe not all goddesses are bad!" he yelled, shooting an accusatory glare at Annabeth.

"Oh, so now it's _my_ fault that the goddesses don't like me!? Thanks, Death Boy!" Annabeth yelled.

"Nico," Percy said patiently unlike the others, "I think the others are right. We shouldn't go down there!" Percy then looked at the the son of Jupiter.

Jason cleared his throat, trying to get the others' attention. "Yeah, right. So , um…" They continued arguing, shouting at each other and trying to prove their decision was right.

Piper watched helplessly as her friends, her most favorite people in the world, fight.

_Yes, little mortal,_ a sleepy voice in her mind purred, a voice she couldn't mistake for anyone else's: Gaea.

_Soon,_ Gaea continued, _soon, not only your puny friends will fight like rabid stray dogs. Soon the whole world will be at war. Nature at war with itself. Mortal against mortal, combatants fighting their own race. How will you stop it, demigod? With a puny knife, and a nice voice? _

Gaea laughed evilly, and Piper almost imagined Gaea smiling at her with contempt.

No, Piper wouldn't let that happen. She'd been through so much war, and the idea of another one, the biggest war in all history, not to mention her friends, her camp, her family would be in it, was too much.

She would not stand for another war.

"STOP! ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP NOW!" Piper screamed, putting so much force in her voice that she felt a bit dizzy.

Everyone stopped talking. They turned to look at her, making her feel self-conscious.

"Let's talk about this, okay?" she said, in a normal, non-charmspeak voice. "No arguing. No debating. Just… let's hear Nico out, and then we can all decide, right?"

"Right..." or "Yeah." or "Sorry." Was heard from the group.

"Alright," Piper instructed, talking to her friends like how you would speak to a small child.

"so first… let's hear Nico out." She turned to the said boy. "You… have a plan, right? Tell us, but more elaborately, please." She instructed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Nico took a deep breath,** and sat up in his chair. "Well, my plan was, since we're supposed to cross a sea full of hungry monsters, was to take an alternative route."

"And where would that be?" Piper coaxed, as if coaxing a kitten out of its hiding place. Nico didn't like that. He surely wasn't a kitten, and people couldn't tell him what to do. The only problem was, the people he was with right now didn't want other people to tell _them_ what to do, either.

"That would be through the shadows." He said matter-of-factly. The other demigods broke out in whispers.

"You told us we would go to the Underworld, and a goddess there could help us get to our destination without crossing the sea." Jason interjected, eyebrows knit together. "Were you lying?"

"No." Nico said immediately. "I wasn't lying. But the thing is, to use the shadows, we have to seek the help of a certain goddess."

"Shadows." Percy said suddenly, as if someone had stabbed him with a needle. "We're gonna go shadow-traveling?" He asked, addressing Nico. Nico smiled wryly. He had known that Percy would remember. He took Percy shadow-traveling last time, and told him about its rules.

"Yes, Percy. Shadow-traveling."

Percy knit his eyebrows together. "But the last time you did it…"

"Yes, that's why we need a goddess's help."

"Wait, hey, you two have somehow forgotten that we're here, too, haven't ya?" Leo interrupted, looking confused. As confused as everyone else. "What in Hephaestus is shadow-travelling?"

"Well…" As Nico explained, his mind strayed off to more random thoughts. Could he really get the goddess to help them? What if he couldn't? It was a death trap.

"Uhm, Nico? Can you, uh, continue?" Hazel asked anxiously.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. So as I was saying, we need help from a goddess, seek help from her to shadow-travel across the sea. But this goddess resides in the Underworld… so, yeah." He explained.

"So how are we gonna go to the Underworld? It's in Los Angeles, y'know." Percy said.

Everyone new stared at him in amazement. "You've been to the Underworld?" Frank asked, eyes wide.

"Uh, long story."

"The point is," Nico growled, making everyone else shut up. "we have to take risks, unless you crazy people want to get devoured by hundreds of monsters!"

Everyone looked at Nico in something close to fear, and Nico immediately felt guilty. He didn't want to have friends who were scared of him, even if his friends didn't agree to his plans of helping them.

"I'm sorry. It's just… I'm really, really, trying hard to help. To prove myself to _you_. Not to anyone else. I can still help. I may have messed up, but now I'm trying to apologize." Nico pleaded, and he felt tears about to spring up from his eyes. He willed them back, however, as he couldn't afford to cry and look weak.

He saw Annabeth take a big breath, and then sigh.

"Alright," she decided, "let's go meet this mystery goddess."


	5. Chapter 5

**As soon as he said it, Annabeth knew **she was in for something dangerous.

Fight a hundred monsters with her friends? No prob. But go back into the Underworld, to talk to some unknown goddess? How about no.

First of all, Percy had told her that Nico had led him down the Underworld because 'it was the only way' and as it turned out, the Lord of the Dead had simply wanted to imprison him in some cold dungeon.

Second, they didn't even know what goddess they were facing. She could be a monster, for all Annabeth knew. How come she hadn't read about this goddess? She had tried researching on Daedalus's laptop, but to no avail.

And third, she absolutely did not agree with only Percy and Nico going in there.

"Going in a large group won't be a great idea. The goddess… she doesn't like people very much." Nico said. _How very reassuring, Nico_, Annabeth thought.

"Why don't you tell us about this goddess, anyway?" Frank demanded. Annabeth was mildly impressed. She had always thought Frank was shy and meek, but now he seemed to stand up for Percy.

Nico hesitated, which struck Annabeth as suspicious. "Well, she's… the goddess of shadows. But she's nice!"

"I never knew there was a goddess of shadows." Percy said, dumb as always.

"There is now."

"Yeah, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth teased. Despite everything, Percy smiled. That made her feel a bit better.

"Well, are we landing, or what?" Nico demanded.

They were hovering over a mountain in Barcelona, which was the nearest place they could fly to, for a while, waiting for Nico's instructions.

"Oh, right. Whatever you say, Captain." Leo mumbled. Then he landed the trireme precariously on the mountain.

"Now what?" Annabeth asked impatiently.

"Well, let's get off then, Percy." Nico grumbled. "She should be waiting."

Unfortunately, as soon as he said it, the ground decided it was hungry and opened up, swallowing Nico and Percy, who were the first out of the ship.

"PERCY!" Annabeth screamed. She ran to the place the ground had opened up, which was now sealed close, like Nico's fissure back at camp. She groped around for some lever, button, anything, but nothing was found, to her despair.

"Percy…" she sobbed, hugging her knees. She'd lost Percy, what, once? Twice? Two hundred times? Now, he was lost again. She continued crying in despair, hearing her friends approach.

"Annabeth… it's okay." She heard Piper muttering, using her charmspeak to sooth her.

"It's probably the goddess. She's underground, right? She must have opened the ground to swallow them up. She must have." She heard Frank saying.

Annabeth stood up shakily. She needed to be strong. For Percy. For her friends. And for that little rascal Nico.

She marched back inside the trireme.

"Let's get back to work. We have some research to do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Percy vaguely remembered falling** through a dark hole, and screaming: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Not exactly the most heroic thing to do. Right next to him, he felt another figure,_ Nico_, he thought, flailing through the darkness.

Then _thud._

They landed at the Fields of Asphodel, the hundreds of shades all clumped together, looking at them and chattering incessantly.

"Scram." Nico growled, and the shades scampered, or rather, floated away.

Percy stood and steadied himself, then lent a hand to Nico, still sprawled on the ground. Nico grunted, and pushed his hand away. He stood up by himself.

"You're welcome." Percy muttered.

Nico glared at him, then spoke, "My sis- um, the goddess's throne is in Hades's palace. We should go there."

Percy stared at him, "You want me to go to Hades's palace, after what your dad did to me, few years back!?"

No sane person would seriously do that. No sane person would even _think_ to go down this hell, _literally_. Percy began to wonder if he still regarded himself as _sane._

"Well, we're already down here, with no way back up. So unless you have another way…" He stared at Percy, making him feel uncomfortable.

"Fine! Let's go." He said, matching Nico's angry tone.

They trudged off to Hades's place, passing all the shades. Percy followed Nico, who was holding out his wicked cool iron sword to part the shades, to his father's palace.

"Here we are." Nico grunted, addressing Percy. Then he pointed to a skeletal warrior, and it opened the gate to his father's palace for him, and they shuffled along without a word through Persephone's garden.

Finally they reached the throne room, and Nico led Percy through a corridor near the side to avoid going inside his father's throne room.

Finally Percy couldn't stand the silence. "I've never seen this part of his palace." He said loudly, causing the sound to echo off the walls of the gloomy, endless corridor.

"You've only ever seen the throne room, Percy." Nico answered as they trudged through the corridor, which was seemingly beginning to become dark.

"Um, Nico?" Percy called out as he stumbled through the dark and cursed. "How in- OW!" He held his toe in pain and tottered about.

"Uh, Percy? Y-you alright?" came Nico's voice. It was so dark now that Percy couldn't damned see anything. Much less where he was walking or where he stubbed his poor pinkie.

"Yeah. Just great." Percy muttered as he held out his hands and groped around. He followed the sound of Nico's shuffling, and soon, Nico stopped.

Percy stumbled into Nico, and they both went sprawling down, cursing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Percy still couldn't see anything**, but he stood up and offered his hand to Nico. This time, Nico took it, cursing.

"Um, K-Kabra? We're here now." Nico called out to the dark space.

Why Nico was talking to a dark room (from the vast space Percy felt, he was sure it was a room) and calling it Cobra, Percy wasn't sure. He wasn't sure why they were in a pitch black room, either.

"Welcome, brother." Said a voice from the darkness, and suddenly the room wasn't so dark anymore.

They were standing in the middle of a throne room, with shadows without owners standing guard, with two thrones, but the thrones looked like it was woven out of pure darkness itself, like shadows. The thrones, however, wasn't all big and giant-y like the one Hades had. Instead, it was human-sized. And sitting on the right throne itself…

"Holy Hera." Percy muttered, staring at the goddess.

The goddess almost looked like Khione, with a beautiful face, but with a cold look. Her eyes were a brilliant, stunning shade of green, like the emerald gem. Her hair was straight and black, with violent streaks of violet, reaching down to her waist, untied. She was wearing a black sleeveless toga, with a golden chain around her waist.

And most of all, she stared at Percy in contempt, like, Oh, wonderful kittens to play with, and then crush under my godly foot.

Nico knelt, and Percy followed his example. "Stand, little brother." The goddess said in a voice like Khione's, cold and cruel, yet willing to play.

Percy wasn't sure who the goddess was talking to, but he stood when Nico stood. Big mistake.

A hellhound the size of a small car (still pretty huge) slammed into him, knocking him down, and growling. The hellhound had stood next to the goddess's throne, but its black fur had camouflaged itself from Percy's vision.

"Kabra! You promised you wouldn't hurt us!" he heard Nico's voice, pleading.

"Oh, but brother," said the goddess's beautiful voice, dripping with fake innocence. "it is not I who hurts him. It is only my pet."

"Well, your pet is gonna kill him!" Percy was pretty sure that the goddess would blast Nico into a bajillion pieces, but she continued speaking in a slightly miffed voice. "Oh, fine. Hitler, kindly refrain from killing our guest." The dog then receded, back to its original place next to the goddess's throne.

Percy stood, and he was thinking for an intelligent reply, like "Touch a hair on my friend's head and I will kill you" or "You're going to pay for that!" but what came out instead was…

"You have a hellhound named Hitler." He said.

The goddess chuckled, like Percy was a kindergartener who had just asked how babies were made. "Yes, Hitler was a fine mortal. My father put him in Tartarus when he died, but out of sympathy, I plucked him from Punishment and turned him into my guard dog. A very fine guard dog, he has made."

Percy stared at her in something between disgust and awe. "Out of sympathy."

The goddess's eyes danced dangerously, and suddenly, the lighting of the room wasn't so light-ish anymore. "Yes, demigod. Jealous? I can always turn _you_ into a dog, too."

Nico cleared his throat nervously. "Um, Kabra. You told us that… that you would help?"

The brightness returned, and the goddess, Percy assumed her name was Kabra, turned to Nico.

"Yes, my favorite brother. I surely will help."

Percy raised his eyebrow at Nico, like, _Brother?_

And Nico mouthed something in reply, like, _Tell you later._

Kabra the goddess smiled at Percy coldly, and purred, "Now, I believe we have things to discuss?"

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><p><strong>OKAY! So i hope no one was offended by the Hitler thing, but if you were, i offer my genuine apology. So, keep on reading.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Percy blacked out, and suddenly** he was sitting a small tea table, in Persephone's garden. Seated with him were Nico and Kabra the goddess of… cobras, maybe?

"Here we are." The goddess said. "Now, tell me, what help do you need, little brother?"

"Uh, well, we wanted to use shadow-travelling to get across the sea without having to fight all those monsters, so…" Nico looked at his godly sibling. "We came to you."

The goddess smiled at Nico- a different smile. It was one full of sunshine and rainbows, as if Nico was the world's greatest gift. "Of course I'll help you, little brother."

Percy stared openmouthed. That easy? That easy to get help from an unknown goddess? Well, it did seem like she liked Nico a lot, so that was a factor.

Then the goddess turned to Percy, and her cold smile returned. "But first, I'd like to meet _all_ of your _lovely_ friends, brother."


	9. Chapter 9

**Two seconds into the Underworld, Annaneth knew** she was gonna have a bad day.

The ground had opened up underneath the Argo II, but instead of it falling, she and her friends were sucked straight through the trireme, and suddenly they were freefalling into the Underworld.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" She and her friends screamed, trying to find a ledge, anything to keep them from falling.

"JASON!" Annabeth heard Piper shriek, "FLY US UP! JASOOOOON!"

But Annabeth knew better. At the rate they were going, Jason wasn't gonna be able to control the winds. It didn't help that he was in new territory: the Land of the Dead.

A hundred feet below them, Annabeth saw the ground and braced herself for painful impact.

Suddenly, they weren't falling anymore. They were all standing in a dining pavilion, like in Camp Half-Blood, but with a roof, and only a single huge table. Seated at its head was a lady who radiated power. The goddess, Annabeth assumed. At her right was Nico, seated comfortably in his cushioned chair. And to her left was…

"Oh my gods, Percy!" Annabeth ran to him and hugged him. She was so relieved, she didn't care about anything else.

She barely registered the hellhound a few feet away, ready to pounce, and the goddess commanded, "Hitler, heel!"

She didn't even register that the hellhound's name was Hitler.

The goddess waved her hand, and four shadows in the shape of humans rose from the ground.

The each of the shadows went to a demigod: Leo, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel.

Frank was just about to draw his bow when Hazel put an arm on him. "It's okay. They're harmless." She murmured.

Frank grumbled, "About as harmless and Underworld creatures can be." But he put his bow down.

The shadows led the demigods to their seats at the table and then dissolved, which left Jason and Piper standing uncomfortably at the edge of the table.

Suddenly, near the entrance to the pavilion, the air shimmered, everyone looked away, and a figure appeared out of the shimmer.

Annabeth gave an audible gasp. "…..Luke?" she asked almost hopefully, still staring at Luke.

Luke looked different the last time they'd seen him (well, it didn't help that the last time they'd seen him he was bloody and injured). Luke was smiling, like he had had a great time from where he shimmered from, and he had a scabbard hanging loosely at his waist.

Annabeth caught Percy's eye. She knew what he was thinking: Backbiter.

Luke was wearing a dark brown leather jacket, a white button-up inside. He was wearing pants. There was something different though.

Luke looked… happy. He definitely wasn't the in his last years of life. He looked easygoing, like he had been before he had worked for Kronos. He also had dark brown eyes now, so different from his blue ones. His hair was buzzed up, almost like Frank's, but the hairstyle was better on him. And his hair… was brown now.

Luke took one look at them. "What up?" He asked with the grin he used to charm every lady that crossed his path.


End file.
